London organising committee chairman Sebastian Coe said on Thursday that security is an overriding concern for the 2012 Olympics.

"The security of the Games underpins all our thinking about them," Coe said in the House of Lords. "It is a critical issue. We now have a security directorate under the direction of the Home Secretary. I can give an assurance that security is always very, very close to all our deliberations."

Coe spoke after a warning from Lord Michael Jopling, who said: "Those vicious people around the world who plan terrorist attacks must regard the London Olympics as one of the prime potential targets in the future."

An International Olympic Committee panel which visited London in April said it was convinced everything would be done to ensure a safe games.

Coe also told the House of Lords that preparations for the Olympics were on schedule and on budget.

"We are on track to deliver a compact games, with swift and safe transport. All our venues in the Olympic Park are on, or even ahead of, schedule and are being delivered within the public sector budget set by the government," he said.